Africa is declared free of wild polio thanks to extensive vaccination campaigns, a new report finds 2019 was the most dangerous year for humanitarian workers, and political talks stall after a coup in Mali. Here are six stories you might have missed this month. COVID-19 is derailing progress on AIDS, malaria, and TB Before COVID-19, rates of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis were declining. But now, nearly 80% of TB, HIV, and malaria programs worldwide have reported disruptions in services, according to the...
Professor Tim Spector is head of the department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London. We interviewed him as as part of our #PassTheMic series. Here’s some of what he had to say in the interview. A few months ago, we launched a symptom study app that has gained amazing traction. More than 3.2 million people have given us data in the UK and another half a million in the US and Sweden. This showed us there are...
Aya Chebbi is an activist and AU Youth Envoy. We interviewed her as part of our #PassTheMic campaign. Here’s some of what she had to say. The COVID-19 pandemic is taking over the world, causing a worldwide impact on education. School and university closures are disrupting the education of over 1.53 billion learners, 743 million of whom are girls. School and university students around the world have had to adapt to e-learning. Lockdowns, quarantines, curfews, isolation, and social distancing that you...
Apps have the power to massively impact society and affect change where it’s needed most. Historically, tech and app development has been a male-dominated industry, but more girls and women are getting involved and bringing their innovations to the table. We’ve put together a list of five apps developed by girls who are using tech to change the world: The Restorers Photo pulled from Dorcas Wangari’s report “The App and the Cut.” Watch the full report here. In...
Vaccines don’t just stop us from getting sick. They help keep us healthy, allowing us to take advantage of all the opportunities that life has to offer. For some, getting vaccinations is a simple trip to the doctor’s office. But for many in the world, it’s a lot harder to access vaccinations. Victor is a health worker in the rural outskirts of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) capital city. Delivering healthcare in communities affected by extreme poverty is...
With so much news on political infighting and royal departures, it’s easy to miss some crucial stories that highlight key global issues and show progress on Global Goals. So we’ve rounded up six underreported stories that you might have missed in January, including Gavi’s anniversary, the potential of Fitbits to track infectious disease outbreaks, and new efforts to tackle corruption. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, turns 20 World leaders recently gathered for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Among...
Growing up with her grandparents on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, Lisa Michael Jones has witnessed the hardships of Tanzanian farmers. She remembers the time in 2016 when her grandfather invested in a large portion of land to start production of watermelons, just to see the harvest fail and return home empty-handed. “After that loss, I haven’t seen my grandpa cultivate a large piece of land again. Now he just farms at a small plot close to our house,”...
The results are in, and the winner of this year’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is Pelebox! The prestigious award, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to engineering innovation. We looked at the some of the other shortlisted companies earlier in the year, but Pelebox’s improvement to access to medication that stole the show. Demonstrating a commitment to design and complex technology, Pelebox is a digital platform that manages various internet-enabled smart lockers....
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation have announced their shortlist, and we’re paying close attention to five of the impressive nominees! Talented, ambitious and committed to technological excellence, we’re sure they’ll be making waves over the next year and beyond. Here’s a look at some of the stand-out individuals and inventions that made the shortlist: Muzalema Mwanza, Zambia Muzalema Mwanza’s creation of a Baby Delivery Kit is making waves. The kit includes the tools that expectant mothers in Zambia are often asked...